Nikon AF-S DX 40mm f/2.8G Micro £260/$280 It’s time to get shorty

This petite macro lens comes up short in a number of ways, some of those good, some of them bad. Its focal length and physical length are remarkably short, at just 40mm and 69mm respectively. It’s certainly very compact, and weighs in at a featherweight 235g.

The minimum focus distance is also shorter than in any other lens on test, at 16cm. Coupled with the fact the inner barrel extends at shorter focus distances, the working distance between the front of the lens and the subject is a mere 35mm, at full macro magnification. This can often feel unworkable, and restricts ambient light from reaching the subject.

On the plus side, the lens works well as an everyday, walkaround prime, with ring-type ultrasonic autofocus, a weather-seal on its mounting plate and an effective 60mm focal length on the DX format cameras for which it’s designed.

Performance

Performance is quite impressive when it comes to image quality, but autofocus is dissapointingly slow and manual focusing feels clunky and obtuse. Ultimately, the short focal length makes macro photography more of a challenge than it should be.